Samsung has a new Galaxy phone with a wild pop-up camera that rotates when you want to take a selfie

• Samsung just announced the Galaxy A80, a new smartphone with a triple-camera system that pops up from the back of the phone and rotates.
• It includes a 48-megapixel main camera, a 3D depth-sensing camera, and an ultra wide-angle camera.
• The Galaxy A80 also borrows some features from the Galaxy S10 line, such as its on-screen fingerprint sensor and ultra wide-angle camera.
• Samsung is one of several smartphone makers coming up with alternatives to the traditional front-facing camera in order to expand the size of the screens on its devices.

Samsung made the front-facing camera seem even less noticeable with its “Infinity-O” hole punch display on the Galaxy S10, which allowed the phone maker to extend the size of its flagship phone’s screen without compromising the camera.

Now, the South Korea-based electronics giant is using a different tactic to achieve a similar goal with its new Galaxy A80, which has a rear-facing camera that can rotate to double as a selfie camera.

The Galaxy A80, which Samsung announced on Wednesday, has three cameras that pop up from the back of the phone and rotate when the camera app is in selfie mode. The camera system is comprised of a 48-megapixel main camera, a 3D depth sensing camera, and an ultra wide angle camera, the latter of which first appeared on Samsung’s Galaxy S10 line.

Besides its slide-out, swiveling triple camera system, the Galaxy A80 also features a 6.7-inch (17cm) 1080 x 2400 resolution screen and a 3,700 mAh battery that supports fast charging. That means the Galaxy A80 has a screen that’s larger than those found on the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, but the same size as the Galaxy S10 5G’s display.

Like many of Samsung’s recent Galaxy phones, the Galaxy A80 includes the company’s Bixby digital assistant and its Knox security platform. There’s also an on-screen fingerprint sensor, which, like the ultra-wide camera camera, also first appeared on Samsung Galaxy S10 line. It will be available in three colours: black, white, and gold.

The Galaxy A80’s unconventional camera is one of many workarounds phone makers have invented to nix the front-facing camera in favour of more screen real estate. Chinese smartphone giant Oppo, for example, just announced a new flagship phone called Reno with a camera that pops out in order to allow for a borderless, notch-free design. Vivo, another China-based smartphone company, also announced a new phone with a 32-megapixel pop up camera earlier this year.

Samsung has yet to announce for the Galaxy A80, but The Verge says it’s scheduled to launch May 29th.

Credit: businessinsider.co.za